The present invention is directed to a system, method, and computer readable storage for detecting segments such as advertisements in a video signal and replacing the detected segments with replacement portions such as targeted advertisements.
Advertisements are commonplace in most broadcast video, including video received from satellite transmissions, cable television networks, over-the-air broadcasts, and digital subscriber line (DSL) systems. Advertising plays an important role in the economics of entertainment programming in that advertisements are used to subsidize or pay for the development of the content. As an example, broadcast of sports such as football games, soccer games, basketball games and baseball games is paid for by advertisers. Even though subscribers may pay for access to that sports programming, such as through satellite or cable network subscriptions, the advertisements appearing during the breaks in the sport are sold by the network producing the transmission of the event.
In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, sports events are frequently viewed in public locations such as pubs and bars. Pubs, generally speaking, purchase a subscription from a satellite provider for reception of sports events. This subscription allows for the presentation of the sports event in the pub to the patrons. The advertising to those patrons may or may not be appropriate depending on the location of the pub, the make up of the clientele, the local environment, or other factors. The advertising may even promote products and services which compete with those stocked or offered by the owner of the pub. To date, no system or method has been developed to allow the pub owner to automatically and accurately substitute existing ads and resell more appropriate advertising.
Another environment in which advertising is presented to consumers through a commercial establishment is in hotels. In hotels, consumers frequently watch television in their rooms and are subjected to the defacto advertisements placed in the video stream. Hotels sometimes have internal channels containing advertising directed at the guests, but this tends to be an “infomercial” channel that does not have significant viewership. As is the case for pubs, the entertainment programming video streams may be purchased on a subscription basis from satellite or cable operator, or may simply be taken from over-the-air broadcasts. In some cases, the hotel operator offers Video on Demand (VoD) services, allowing consumers to choose a movie or other program for their particular viewing. These movies are presented on a fee basis, and although there are typically some types of advertising before the movie, viewers are not subjected to advertising during the movie. To date, no system or method has been introduced which allows establishments such as hotels and hospitals to increase the effectiveness of their advertising opportunities based on the captive audience. Similarly, no system has yet been introduced which allows hotel operators to ensure that advertisements for competitors' products and services are not shown to guests in their premises.
Hospitals also provide video programming to the patients, who may pay for the programming based on a daily fee, or in some instances on a pay-per-view basis. The advertising in the programming is not specifically directed at the patients, but is simply the advertising put into the programming by the content provider.
Residential viewers are also presented advertisements in the vast majority of programming they view. These advertisements may or may not be the appropriate advertisements for that viewer or family. Various methods have been developed to provide for the switching of channels during advertising opportunities, such that the user is forced to watch an advertisement different than that presented in the original programming, and are known as “forced channel tuning” techniques. These techniques suffer from a fundamental bandwidth constraint in that extra channels are needed to carry alternate advertisements. These channels occupy bandwidth that would ordinarily be used for revenue generating programming including Pay-Per-View (PPV) or VoD channels. Transport of alternate advertisements thus “robs” bandwidth from other revenue generating opportunities.
The advent of the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) also provides for the opportunity to replace advertisements, although PVRs also allow consumers to simply skip over the ads, either by fast-forwarding, or in some cases through the use of an “ad-skip” feature on the PVR.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a system and method that allows for the insertion of advertisements in video streams, and in particular in video streams presented to audiences that do not have the ability to fast-forward through the advertisements. There is also a need for a system which allows advertisements to be better targeted to audiences and for the ability for operators of commercial premises to cross-market services and products to the audience. Additionally, there is a need for a system which enables the operators of commercial premises to eliminate and substitute advertising of competitors' products and services included in broadcasts shown to guests on their premises.